what makes a computer slow?

[hydra_chan]

hmm....i think if possible do get more RAM cos basically that's the thing that affects the comp speed most.....if can get a 1GB RAM to replace the current 256MB RAM....ur comp will run fairly fast...

or if not.....at least get another 512MB RAM to add on to your current 256MB RAM......it will help to speed up the comp

and like what the others mentioned above....do check for spywares and virus and stuff at least once a week to make sure your comp is save.....some of these stuff also slow down the comp's speed...

[r.clover]

When you said it slowed your computer when you defragment, was you working on your computer while doing it? If so, that's meant to happen and it's best to leave your computer while it defragments otherwise you're just undoing some of the work it's trying to do.

What virus scan do you have? If you have Norton that is known to be a big resource hog. Also some programs you installed would run processes at startup that you might not need and there are tools out there to view in detail what program run at startup and disable it.

when I defrag my computer all the windows and files were closed.
I will try everyone's advice.^^

[Nightfall]

Celeron...

Celerons are particularly bad, they were created by Intel to be a cheaper clone to Pentiums.

For example, I had a Celeron which claimed to clock at 2.8 GHz but in reality it didn't even touch what it claimed.

If you want to maximise your computer i'd suggest: Running Windows De-Frag, Checking and eliminating viruses and spyware and also making sure only a select few programs load upon start-up.

Hope I was of help.

Edit: Defragging does take a long time if you have not used it in a few months, don't use the computer while it's defragging.

Long time can = 1-4 hours

Edit Redux:

256 MB of RAM is a small amount of RAM, the average RAM size now is 1 Gig (1000 MB). If you are not interested in playing games however i'd suggest you buy a 512 MB DDR RAM stick, these are quite cheap now.

RAM sticks are fairly easily to install too, you just need to be careful about static electricity.

[hr]

256 RAM is too little, you need to upgrade, alot of XP programs require alot more than that to run properly.

XP's original specs claimed it needed 128 MB, if your refering to other non-Microsoft products then your right.

[NixzNoxz]

I agree with the others; you need more RAM (memory) and probably have too many programs loading in the quick start menu. The more programs running in the background, the slower the boot up time and loading. Also spyware & adware can add to background running processes, so make sure to check for them. Always run Scandisk, Defrag and Prefetch, clear your cache and every so often your cookies (but make sure you remember your passwords) and empty the temp folders.

McAffee and Norton were huge RAM hogs; I use Panda Titanium now as my antivirus software.

[bl4ckm4lice]

I suffered the same thing as you before. My antivirus is working well, AVG Free Edition (updated regularly through the internet connection, free). So I ended up installing Spyware Doctor for cleaning the spywares in my laptop. It worked very well, it detected around 100 spywares per week everytime I scanned my laptop thoroughly ^^;; (which comes from ImageShack and download hosts). Defrag is a must. Clean up your desktop if there are too many icons there. And set your programs so there aren't so many running in the background (a.k.a taskbar on the opposite of the start menu, I only have five programs active at the moment), prioritize spyware+virus detector. As for the RAM, I ended up adding a 512 MB RAM, and you can REALLY feel the change, seriously.

[Rokuemon]

RAM RAM RAM!

I was having the same probs as you and its paging memory between virtual (which is like an extension of ram type memory kept on the disk) and ram that causes this because hard drive based memory is much too slow. I doubled the memory and the effect was instant and amazing!

Get yourself 500mb of ram (then you will have 756M), that should be plenty & will make a huge difference. Frankly 256 was too low in the first place, I guess they sell comps with too little memory to shave the price.

You probably have enough disk space (not sure if you said how much) and frankly you prob wont need to do anything else other than add RAM. But that's what you must do, no question.

[Whazzup]

Maybe you should start putting your files in a pen drive.....when my computer got slower....it started to get even slower...started to make odd sounds....and then one night...it died...as in it never can be switched on again.....my mom and I scream because all our important files were in the computer maybe it's because you use the computer for a long period of time and you don't give it enough rest.....or there's some kind of evil virus making it slower ...but be careful,it might die like mine

[jasonboi19]

OK everyone yes RAM Random Access Memory is very important. all computers were built to be upgraded eventually and as far as 128MB for XP yes that is true but that would only be for for the OS itself otherwise you run other programs you will need for RAM and higher processing power look at the motherboard specifications and find out what you can upgrade too(if it is even worth upgrading or buying a new system. As a rule of thumb tou usualy want at least 1/2 the processing speed in for RAM so if you have a 3.0Ghz procesor you will want to have 1.0GB or higher in RAM. in addition to hardware you will also want to make sure that the computer is only running processes that are needed I.E. if quicktime is running in your toolbar and you dont need it turn it off until you need it it only takes up processing power. the same can be said for most all programs they will eat at you PC's proccessor, ram and pagefile memory making the computer slow. also makesure the computer's internet history by performing a disk clean-up, defragment, virus scans, increasing virtual memory, and limiting your startup programs in MSCONFIG. Doing all this will insure that you PC will remain happy and FAST like it was when it was new.

hope it helps all

[jasonboi19]

Maybe you should start putting your files in a pen drive.....when my computer got slower....it started to get even slower...started to make odd sounds....and then one night...it died...as in it never can be switched on again.....my mom and I scream because all our important files were in the computer maybe it's because you use the computer for a long period of time and you don't give it enough rest.....or there's some kind of evil virus making it slower ...but be careful,it might die like mine

if you want you PC to turn back on unplug it and press the power button and hold it for 30seconds. plug it back in and the PC should turn on this is mostlikely do to swollen capisitors (I cant spell today grrrrr...)lol. doing this should allow you to at least back up your files to a external HD or a thumbdrive before it dies again. the process above is only a quick fix that drains the internal battery and allows the pc to start up normally you may encounter a thermal event error after the PC has started up just continue past this and the pc should be good for 1-14 day before the capisitors will actually leak and the PC actually dies and the motherboard need to be replaced.

I hope it helps
it sounds like this will fix your problem from what you described